JPH03504522A - vacuum container - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] vacuum container Technical field The present invention relates generally to semiconductor wafer processing equipment.

In particular, the main vacuum chamber allows processing of wafers without contaminating the main vacuum environment. It relates to a vacuum container placed within a chamber.

Background technology In the manufacturing of semiconductor wafers, it is possible to perform multiple processing steps with one device. Highly desirable, recently, pre- and post-processing operations on wafers have been moved from vacuum environments to wafers. This is often done by taking out the Ha. This is before and after like this A processing step heats the wafer and removes gases trapped on the wafer's surface. It is necessary because it demands that.

Pre- and post-processing operations were performed within the main chamber. However, such obedience The drawbacks and limitations of the current technology are the quality of the vacuum in semiconductor processing, which occurs within the main vacuum chamber. We are forced to compromise due to pollution. Because it can perform pre- and post-operations, The device also has an additional chamber. The drawbacks and limitations of such devices are: can limit throughput and increase costs when using this type of isolation. That is.

Summary of the invention It is therefore an object of the present invention to carry out parallel operations in a vacuum chamber without contamination. The objective is to provide a device that can achieve this goal. Furthermore, an objective of the present invention is to reduce throughput. It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus that can save processing costs without having to do so.

In accordance with the present invention, a semiconductor wafer is placed in a main vacuum chamber having a wafer holder therein. What equipment can process wafers?

It has a clamshell-like device. That clamshell A first member disposed on the wafer holder and a first member facing the first member. and a second member disposed below the wafer holder to do so. first member and the second member each have a mating surface. The first member and and the second member such that the respective phase surfaces of the first member and the second member are mutually It is movable between a closed position in sealing engagement and an open position. Clamsche when in closed position The device forms an internal chamber.

When the clamshell device is in the closed position, there is no flow from the inner chamber to the outside of the main chamber. A means for venting the gas is further included.

An advantage of the present invention is that multiple treatments can be performed within one vacuum chamber. half Utilizing a wide range of small geometries for conductor chips requires all forms of contamination control. required to make the most of it. Clamshell device.

Maintain isolation of gas contamination between the interior of the clamshell and the rest of the main vacuum chamber. Ru. The clamshell device is a very simple and reliable low-particle ini. It has the important advantage of providing isolation. In addition, the mechanism uses a small amount of conductive air. space required and can be installed inside other vacuum chambers. by clamshell device High throughput can be maintained within the main vacuum chamber. This can be separated and next to Closed chambers have significant advantages over prior art techniques that reduce throughput. . Consideration of throughput means that the performance of very expensive semiconductor processing equipment is one of them. This is the main point because it is evaluated by the number of wafers that can be processed.

These and other objects, advantages and features of the invention.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the following preferred embodiments are read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and claims. This becomes easily clear.

Brief description of the drawing Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the main vacuum chamber incorporating the new ram shell device of the present invention. It is a diagram.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the clamshell device of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the clamshell device.

Example A semiconductor processing installation 1i 1110 having a main vacuum chamber 12 is illustrated.

Processing equipment 10 is configured to process semiconductor wafers within a main vacuum chamber 12 based on the concept of the present invention. (c) 16;

The novel device 14 of the present invention includes a semiconductor holder 18 and a clamshell. The clamshell device 20 includes a device 20 such as a first member 22 (5hell). and a second member 24, the first member 22 and the second member 24 are oriented toward each other. They are in conflict. The first member 22 has a mating surface 26 on the second member. 24 has a corresponding phase surface 28. a first member and a The second member is interchangeable between the open position shown in Figure 2 and the open position (shown in the direction of the arrow). It can be moved easily. Here, the phase surface 26 of the first member 22 is connected to the second member 24. sealingly engages the phase surface 28 of. When the clamshell device 20 is in the closed position, An internal chamber 30 is formed therein.

As best shown in FIG. 2, phase surface 28 of second member 24 defines channel 32. have An O-ring 34 is disposed within the channel 32. Each phase surface 26.28 A hermetic seal is achieved by the O-ring when the O-rings engage each other. Here is the sticker As shown in the figure, there is no need for R13, which is an elastomer, but a metal or low conductance material. It may be Susheer.

In one embodiment of the invention, the first member of clamshell apparatus 20 is a semiconductor processing facility. Attachment is obtained to the interior surface 36 of the earthen wall 38 of 10. At this time, the second member 24 It is mounted for relative movement with respect to the first member on the stone 40. piston 4 0 extends through the bottom wall 42 of the semiconductor processing facility 10. The piston is a conventional It may be coupled to an external pneumatic, hydraulic, or electrical actuator. Vero -44 prevents contaminants from entering the main chamber 12.

Wafer holder 18 in one embodiment of the invention is a plurality of bins 46. three bis The tube 46 is used like a tripod stand. The bottle 46 is stored in the hole 48 of the piston 40. has been done. Piston 46 also. Can be coupled to conventional external actuators . Additionally, the bellows 50 is sealingly engaged between the bottom surface 52 of the piston 40 and the bottom wall 42. be done. Also the bottom surface 52. It has a hole in which the bottle 46 is housed.

Since the clamshell device 20 is within the main vacuum chamber 12, the load arm 54 is provided for loading and unloading wafers into the clamshell apparatus 20. It is being The clamshell device 20 is always open before a loading operation is performed. There is. The loading operation is performed by lifting the wafer 16 onto the load arm 54. Ru. When the wafer 16 leaves the load arm 54, the load arm 54 Retract while 46 is in the raised position.

The shape of the load arm 54 is such that it can be retracted without obstructing the bin 46. The load arm 54 must be free of weight from the clamshell device 20. In order to collect Ha, he makes a reverse movement and returns.

Bin 46 lifts wafer 16 before entering clamshell apparatus 20 . Low Clamshell mounting is possible without the door arm 54 coming into contact with the bin 46 or the wafers 16. 20. When the load arm 54 is fully extended, the bin is lowered. , passes through the load arm 54 and leaves the wafer 16 on the load arm 54. The door arm 54 operates in a vacuum environment within the main vacuum chamber 12. The wafer 16 is continuously moved to the next destination.

Clamshell device f20 is specifically provided for two semiconductor processing FJ operations. First operation The process uses a wafer 16 to remove gas from impurities that form on the surface of the wafer 16. This pretreatment includes heating the wafer 16. As shown in Figure 3, optically A transparent window 56 is hermetically sealed to the first member 22 to heat the wafer 16. Optical radiation can be directed through $56 for this purpose. Closed and clamshell To evacuate gas from the device, a connecting half-tube 58 is provided within the first member 22, above the l! 38 It is installed so that it passes through. The joint half tube 58 communicates with the inner chamber 30. It has an opening 60 therethrough. The joint half-tube 58 is located outside the main vacuum chamber 12. It is connected to an air pump (not shown).

A post-processing operation is performed to cool the wafer within the closed clamshell apparatus 20. is necessary. To cool the wafers 16, the bin 46 is connected to a clamshell apparatus 20. remains closed and is lowered so that the wafer 16 is located on the surface 62 of the second member 24 . A joint half tube 64 introduces an inert gas, such as argon, into the inner chamber 30. It is provided in the first member 22 by penetrating the earthen wall 38 in order to do so.

Gas is used as a refrigerant. Of course, excess gas can be exhausted through the connecting half-pipe 58. It can be noticed. The joint half pipe 64 is also. It has an opening 66 that communicates with the internal chamber 30. do.

The connecting half-tube is connected to a gas source (not shown) external to the main chamber 12. There is. To disperse gas.

A buffer 68 disperses gas introduced into the internal chamber 30. Therefore, it is provided close to the opening 66.

Second member 24 also includes a water jacket 70 to further cool the wafer. The refrigerant can be drawn up through the water jacket. water jacket The port 70 connects to a conduit 72 to a refrigerant source (not shown) outside the main vacuum chamber 12. connected. As a result of the gas conduction cooling operation, gas is drawn out of the clamshell device. Served. When there is proper pressure inside the outside ram shell 20, the main vacuum chamber - 12 is opened and the wafer 16 is taken out.

Until now, processing operations have been performed on semiconductor wafers without contaminating the main vacuum chamber. I have described a device that can do this. Those skilled in the art will be able to understand the present invention from the embodiments described above. It could be used for various purposes and uses without departing from Ming thought. , therefore 9 the invention is limited to the scope of the claims.

international search report I″’″″″″″IA″8″-K Go/3 head 105994

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. An apparatus for processing semiconductor wafers in a main vacuum chamber, wafer holder and a first member located above the wafer holder; and a first member facing the first member. a clamshell including a second member matingly positioned below the wafer holder; The apparatus, wherein the first and second wafer holders each have a phase surface. , the first and second wafer holders are in the open position and the first member is in the phase position. said clamp is movable between a closed position in which said surface sealingly engages said second phase surface; The ramshell device forms the internal chamber when the ramshell device is in the closed position. well device, When the clamshell device is in the closed position, gas is directed out of the main chamber into the interior. means for evacuating the chamber; A device consisting of 2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one of the first and second members the phase surface of includes a channel and an O-ring disposed within the channel; Rono device. 3. The device according to claim 1, further comprising: the clamshell device being closed. 3. An apparatus comprising means for cooling said wafer when in position. 4. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the cooling means comprises: within the inner chamber such that the wafer is in contact with an inner surface of the second member. means for positioning said wafer holder in a means for introducing a refrigerant into the second member. 5. 3. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the cooling means means for introducing gas into said internal chamber when said device is in a closed position; , wherein the gas is exhausted by the exhaust means. 6. 6. The device according to claim 5, wherein the introducing means a joint pipe provided in the interior chamber and having an opening communicating with the internal chamber; Apparatus in which a grate tube is connected to a gas source external to the vacuum chamber. 7. 7. The device according to claim 6, wherein the introduction means said opening in said inner chamber to disperse said gas introduced into said bar; The device further includes a baffle located proximate the mouth. 8. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first member is hermetically mounted. an optically transparent window that directs optical radiation through the window and onto the wafer; A device that is directed towards. 9. The device according to claim 1, wherein the exhaust device is connected to the first member. a joint pipe provided in the interior chamber and having an opening communicating with the interior chamber; A device in which the joint pipe is connected to a vacuum pump outside the vacuum chamber. Place. 10. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the wafer holder is a plurality of vertical pins and a plurality of openings passing through the second member; Each of the pins is disposed in each of the openings, and the pins are in a raised position and a lower position. the wafer is movable between the pins and the lowered position, and the wafer is movable between the pins and the lowered position; the second member;